SCV sees a day of spooks

Volunteers host Pumpkin Festival at park

Megan Doyel, 10, from Girl Scout troop 456, carves her pumpkin for the Heritage Haunt Pumpkin Festival contest on Saturday morning at William S. Hart Park. The event included a tour of the "Curse of the Ghoul Mines" maze.

The Heritage Haunt Pumpkin Festival entertained all ages of boys and ghouls on Saturday at William S. Hart Park. A day of family friendly activities were offered from a pumpkin carving contest and bug shows to a behind the scenes tour of the haunted maze, “Curse of the Ghoul Mines.”

“Come on, Dad,” said 5-year-old Anthony Howard as he motioned his father to keep up with him in the maze. “Some of this is real Daddy, just some of it.”

Howard’s wide-eyed gaze was a sight to see as he looked upon creepy-crawlers and spooky creatures with intrigue.

The backstage tour is to show them how being scared can be an amusement and fun, so they want to go through it, said Rob Tezai, 47, a volunteer from the Old West Masonic Lodge.

Scott Silvey, a head volunteer, was very pleased with the event’s turnout.

“The city came to me after last year’s Halloween Haunt and said they wanted to put on a small-town family event,” Silvey said. “The event is city- and county-run. The county really stepped up. Maybe we can do more city-county things.”

Across from Heritage Junction where the haunted house and bug show were set up, a pumpkin carving contest attracted the attention of more young ones at Hart park.

Hunter and Kyle Kincheloe, 11 and 9, of Santa Clarita said they wanted to carve spooky pumpkins.

Hunter is also a weekly volunteer for the haunted maze. “I like to see how people react to it when I scare them,” he said. “I like to see when their eyes pop out.”

Also among the carvers was politically active Darleen Coyle, age 11. Coyle sat at the table creating a jack-o’-lantern with a stack of ‘Yes! on Prop 2’ fliers beside her.

“My mom signed me up when I became a vegetarian,” she said.

“She feels very strongly about it,” said Coyle’s mother, Alaina Coyle. “Her father and I are very supportive about it.”

While the focused faces of the kids testified to their carving dedication, parent’s smiles indicated gratitude for the event and the fun their children were having.

“This is great,” Elena Drapeau of Saugus said. “I really like what the city has to offer when it comes to activities like this. It’s very family oriented.”

The Heritage Haunt’s “Curse of the Ghoul Mines” will run 7 to 11 p.m. on Oct. 24-25 and Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 at Heritage Junction. Tickets are $13 and can be purchased from Heritage Gift Shop or at www.scvhaunt.com.